Do women of the past matter?

It is normal in families and nations to remember the ancestors and heroes who have gone before us and to whom we often owe so much. The same applies to our Christian community. Respect for those who came before us is the origin of our Christian interest in ‘saints’.

1. What do we mean with ‘saints’?
2. Why sponsor a ‘saint’?
3. The rationale of our sponsorship scheme
4. What do you gain by sponsoring a ‘saint’?
5. What is the procedure of sponsoring?

The procedure of sponsoring could not be simpler:
A. Select your ‘saint’ and B. Send us your donation mentioning the name of the ‘saint’ you are sponsoring! We will confirm your sponsorship in writing.

What do we mean with ‘saints’?

Paul applied the term ‘saints’ to all believers. He frequently starts or ends his letters with greetings to ‘all the saints’. In the course of time it was the outstanding leaders and spiritual ancestors who were honoured with the title ‘saints’. Since the ‘saints’ are already with God, it became the custom to ask for their intercession. In the course of time devotions arose, some of which led to excesses. Popular acclaim made saints of people who did not always pass muster. The Church tried to correct this by instituting the process of canonization. Because of male dominance, fewer women than men entered the records of merit. Women were even named after men: half the names of women derive from male saints! Only the name of one woman, Jesus’ mother Mary, was at times given to men.

The reason for our sponsorship scheme

We need to build up a small working capital. To help us achieve this goal, we are looking for a hundred sponsorships of £ 1000 each [ = $ 1500, Euro 1500, etc.] in honour of the hundred saintly women of our Christian past remembered on our website.

Our main tool is the internet. Through our website we reach out to more than half a million visitors a year, in the fifteen most spoken languages in the Church. Practically all our work is done on a voluntary basis. But we can’t avoid paying the rent for small office premises, insurances, gas, electricity, water, building repairs, council tax, etc. We incur overheads such as telephone, postage, stationery, photocopying, scanning, computer maintenance, software licences, professional fees, and so on.

Please, make it possible for us to steer our Catholic Church which we love so dearly to see what Christ wants for it in our own days.

So far nine of our ‘saints’ have been sponsored!

What do you gain by sponsoring?

1. You support our campaign for the ordination of women.

2. You honour a ‘saint’ - one of the great women of our past.

3. The names of the hundred sponsors who contribute to this project will be inscribed on the reverse side of a Plaque of Honour in our office. On the day when the first Catholic women are admitted to ordination by the Church, we will publish the names of those sponsors.

Procedure of Sponsoring

It could not be simpler:
A. Select your ‘saint’ and
B. Send us your donation mentioning the name of the ‘saint’ you are sponsoring! We will confirm your sponsorship in writing.

So far nine of our ‘saints’ have been sponsored!

By ‘sponsoring a saint’ you help us voice a demand that they would certainly make if they lived today. For we are their children and grandchildren.